So Fred's got his "VC Cliche of the Week" and the Album list, so, I decided I needed some kind of list. Its funny, when you switch firms, all of the sudden, everyone starts picking up on terms that you've been using for years and you realize you've come up with your own lingo or borrowed some from others and made it your own. I called someone a "sketchball" the other day and Fred was all over it. However, the term "sketchball" itself isn't that interesting to me, so I'm not going to make it a Charlieism. I think if I call someone a sketchball, you'll know what it means.
No, this week's Charlieism is a borrowed one.. borrowed from Larry Rusoff from GM who borrowed it from one of his friends. So, its been passed on, and I've made it part of my regular vocabulary. This week's Charlieism is "The Cloak of Honesty".
The Cloak of Honesty is an attempt to use truth to protect yourself from the underlying reality of a situation. Now, you might be saying, "Aren't truth and reality the same things?" Well, not always, especially when someone speaks a technical, literal truism that ignores something under the surface. The best example I can think of is when you are seeing someone who feels much more for you than you do for them. By telling them upfront and being very direct that you are not interested in a relationship, and that physical contact will not lead to commitment, technically you are being truthful and honest. However, if you continue physical contact, knowing full well that you are building expectations in their mind despite your words to the contrary, you are "hiding under the cloak of honesty" when you try to convince yourself and others that you are not, in fact, doing anything wrong.
Hiding under the Cloak of Honesty. There you go. Use it all you want. In fact, its now an Urban Dictionary entry.